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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23701444">Moonspell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne'>Spunky0ne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aizen/Byakuya - Freeform, Fantasy, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:01:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,227</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23701444</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Enemies by day and lovers by night, Sousuke and Byakuya walk the fine line between love and rebellion.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aizen Sousuke/Kuchiki Byakuya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Full Moon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Good-night Kuchiki Taichou.”</p><p>“Good-night Abarai fukutaichou.”</p><p>With a solemn expression and measured steps, he left the Squad Six Headquarters. Sun had set and full moon risen, but his eyes looked straight ahead, oblivious to all but the street before him. Calm and tranquil, he proceeded slowly, light falling over him, placing tiny highlights in the dark swirls of raven black hair and lighting the dark centers of the deep gray eyes. Haori and ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu floated on the cool breeze, dancing lightly around him, already caught in the spell of the full moon.</p><p>The doors to Kuchiki Manor opened from within. He passed through them, nodding with half-lidded eyes to the ones who greeted him, then turned and passed down the long wooden walkway, surrounded in sakura breezes. He bared his feet at the door, then stepped into his room, leaving the doors to the garden opened wide. He stepped calmly past his bed, moving into the dressing area to begin the silent ritual.</p><p>Soft, pale hands reached up to unfasten the kenseiken. As it was pulled away, the suddenly freed strands of black hair fell down over one sleepy gray eye. He set the kenseiken carefully on its stand, then reached up to unwind the flowing ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu from its place at his throat. This he hung neatly, letting the ends fall nearly to the floor, but not allowing them to touch it. He moved on then to the fingerless gloves, baring light skin made tender and sensitive by the constant press of white cloth on the surface. One hand lowered and pulled free the tie at his waist and he slipped the fabric from his shoulders, catching it as it fell away and dropping it into the clothesbasket for cleaning. He loosened the hakama and let it fall in a lazy swish, before stepping out of it. His moonlit skin glowed softly as he turned, and the gray eyes caught a glimpse of naked flesh, finally released from all bindings. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the momentary freedom from a life surrounded by rules, regulations, expectations. It was a slightly regretful hand that reached for the soft, dark red yukata and covered his flesh again.</p><p>Slowly, he stepped out of the dressing area, across the room and to a bed bathed in blue moonlight. The covers had already been pulled back and he slipped easily beneath them, sliding into cool softness. He sank into his pillow and lay awake for a time, gray eyes glowing with the full moon’s light, filling with the unrestrained energies. Sighing softly, he gave himself over to the night and the dark gray eyes drifted closed.</p><p>Deep within the confines of the deeply controlled mind, the sensibilities of daytime were driven away and the full moon took control.</p><p>As the full moon fell across the open door, it’s light filled his room and bathed him in its madness. The dark, senseless eyes opened to take in its fullness, then the bonds on his body released and he slowly rose from his bed. With soft, silent footsteps, he crossed the floor and passed through the open doors and out into the night. He gazed up at moon and stars, and showed no hint of surprise or distress as a golden light surrounded him and lifted him into the air. He flinched at the tearing sound of the garganta opening, but the spell of the moon had hold of all his senses now. And as the golden light surrounded him, it soothed him back to senselessness and his body relaxed.</p><p>Set down gently in the cool night sands, he walked with an easy stride across the desert and into the darkened courtyard. Hollow guards allowed him to pass without challenge, their heads bowing slightly as the heavenly form passed them.</p><p>The doors opened for him and he walked slowly to the stairs, his breath quickening as he ascended them. He paused at the top, one eye quietly observing as the doors drifted closed behind him, then he turned and made his way down the hall to a guarded door. This last door opened before him. He stepped through and waited as it closed.</p><p>All was quiet within. Here too, the moonlight streamed inside and cast its madness about, making beautiful what would be intolerable by the light of day.</p><p>“I’m glad you have come to me again…Byakuya.”</p><p>The noble stood frozen, just inside the door, smoldering gray eyes fastened on brown, his heart quickening, fluttering, leaving his body feeling weakened.</p><p>“Sousuke,” he breathed, his voice trembling.</p><p>The other was on his feet in an instant, flash stepping to meet him. He stood for a moment, watching the moonlight play over pale, perfect skin, then reached for his hand. With the joining of their hands, a part of the wall ahead of them dissolved and a stairway rose to lead them upward. Darkness followed by a creature of light, they ascended the stairs together. They reached the top and blinked at the return of the moonlight as they entered the glass domed room at the very top of Las Noches. They paused in the doorway, hands touching, holding each other as they took in the stars and moon. Then slowly their eyes fell and met…bright, steel gray and contemplative brown.</p><p>One hand slipped beneath the fine carved chin, raising the pale lips to meet his as the other reached for the tie at his waist and pulled it free. A shiver passed through the slender body as strong hands pushed the cloth back off of his shoulders and the red, silken fabric fell away, floating softly to the floor at their feet.</p><p>One hand extended and a paler one accepted, their fingers lacing lightly together as they stepped across the floor side by side. They stood for a moment by the bed, gray eyes locked on brown, a warm hand rising to cup a porcelain cheek. A very soft meeting of lips. The gray eyes grew hazy and lost. Aizen Souske’s lips spread into a mischievous smile.</p><p>He wrapped his arms around the noble’s slender, white body, laying his darker, hotter flesh against it, letting the warmth radiate between them. Slowly, he brought the other down onto the bed, sinking into the softness of fabric and flesh. He felt the racing of the heart beneath the flesh and watched rapt as a lovely blush rose on pale features. It was too much to resist, and he had no need for restraint.</p><p>Lips and warm breath brushed the shell of an ear.</p><p>“Ask me for anything, Byakuya. Tell me what you want.”</p><p>Gray eyes widened and grew confused as the madness of the full moon descended and penetrated. As the other watched with predatory eyes, the pale, white form beneath him was filled with energy, brought to life.</p><p>“I want you…Sousuke…”</p><p>He descended on the perfect mouth, forcing it wide and thrusting between the parted lips to find the hidden heat and sweetness within. The taste was even sweeter than he remembered, the scent of cherry blossoms stronger, everything was made more perfect under the full moon. His fingers curled into the soft, silken hair, curving around his head, holding it in place as he plundered the sinfully sweet depths, his heart racing and his loins aching as his lover moaned into his mouth. He felt the tender vibration of sound and motion all of the way to his toes.</p><p>Soft hands and pearly nails slid down the length of his back, curving around and capturing his hips. They tightened and pulled insistently as the body beneath his arched upward into his. Still buried in the depths of that sinfully warm mouth, he ground his hips into the ones rising against them and was rewarded with a hungry, wanton moan. Their swollen members slid up and down each others’ lengths as he tore his mouth away from his lover’s and fell on the soft, white throat. The noble’s head fell back offering even more to taste, to touch, to tease and nip. He accepted the invitation eagerly, first running his tongue slowly up its length, then bathing every inch in soft, open-mouthed kisses. The body beneath him shivered with want and he felt himself smiling into the soft, pale flesh.</p><p>The noble’s slim hips bucked upward into his and his own answered with deep, hard friction. The body beneath him writhed against him and the dark gray eyes caught his, silently pleading for completion.</p><p>He was all too willing to comply.</p><p>He pulled away briefly to gaze down at his lover’s body stretched out across the bed, his flawless white skin bathed in moonlight. The dark eyes glinted back at him, fiery and restless and his lips moved in the shape of his lover’s name.</p><p>“Sousuke…”</p><p>He ran the fingers of one hand over the lines of his chest, tracing each curve and dip, then he leaned forward and mouthed one erect, pink nipple, then the other. The light, sweet sound that issued from the noble’s lips in response sent a jolt through his loins and his cock twitched hungrily.</p><p>He tried to remember that these nights were few and far between…that nothing was guaranteed beyond this moment, and that it should be savored. But the beauty he treasured lay spread out beneath him, achingly tempting and as wanting as he was.</p><p>And Aizen Sousuke found himself losing control.</p><p>He blazed a line of fierce kisses down the soft abdomen and sank his tongue into the navel, sucking deeply. The noble’s body trembled and he moaned loudly, arching his back. Sousuke kissed his way down to the thick arousal and gently pressed his lips to the blushing head, tasting the fluid that leaked furiously from the tip. A long slow lick from base to tip ignited another, heavy, panting moan and the noble’s body shook softly. He took the full length of the swollen cock into his mouth and the noble’s fingers threaded into his hair, eagerly encouraging the up and down motion of his head as he sucked hungrily. As his head rose and fell, his eye caught the sight of a pale hand clenching the sheets, of a back arched in bliss, a lovely face bathed in pleasure. He sucked harder and watched the sleek body tighten and tremble.</p><p>He wanted more. He wanted to make that pale, beautiful body shake harder…to make the noble moan even louder…to make him lose control…to make him scream.</p><p>He let the wet cock slip from his mouth and kissed his way down its length, then pleasured the soft sac at its base. He moved down even further, pushing the noble’s thighs wide and teasing his entrance with hot breath, a soft kiss, a probing tongue. He wet his fingers and slid one inside, taking the slick, hard cock back into his mouth and sucking harder as he slid his finger in and out. He almost laughed at the eager hips that bucked upward, at the impatient hands that clenched and unclenched, at the soft, pleading words that escaped Byakuya’s lips.</p><p>“Ah…kami, Sousuke, please…”</p><p>The words were irresistible, falling from lips that never would say such things in the light of day…in a place other than this one bathed in full moonlight. He responded immediately, forgetting restraint, forgetting to slow down and savor, forgetting everything but his need to bury himself in his lover’s core, to disappear into heated flesh and beautiful cries until both were sated.</p><p>He knelt between the noble’s parted thighs and moved into position above him. Smiling down into that sweet, wanting expression, one that no one else would ever see spread across those pristine features, he brought the damp, flushed head of his pulsing erection to Byakuya’s entrance and pushed his way inside with short, deepening thrusts.</p><p>His full length buried in the noble’s body, he brought his body down onto the other and brought their mouths together for a bout of fierce, deep kisses. He drew back slightly, then began thrusting, slowly at first, waiting to add speed and depth when Byakuya parted his lips to plead for them. And then he gave everything in hard, deep thrusts, in fiery kisses, in tightened hands that dug into the pale white flesh as they thrust harder and faster against each other. He gazed down at the beautiful sight of Byakuya, wild eyed, gasping and panting, his body shaking madly, no sign of control anywhere. He thrust hard into the bundle of nerves deep inside and watched the dark eyes go wide and black, the slender back arch wildly and the noble’s mouth open into hard screams of pleasure. He drank in the sight and sound, letting it take him over the edge, off and into oblivion. His own body shook with hard pulses of release and he moaned and panted against his lover’s sweat-slicked throat.</p><p>He let his head rest against a soft, pale shoulder, following the path of the noble’s upturned eyes and staring at a blanket of stars that danced around the huge white moon.</p><p>He didn’t want to break the moonspell, but he longed for more.</p><p>“Will you not stay with me until morning?” he whispered, watching the blood still pulsing, moving the skin of his lover’s throat.</p><p>Byakuya turned and met the mouth that uttered those warm words with deeply pleasant, lingering kisses and a whispered promise to return when the moon shone full again.</p><p>“But,” he said softly, “I must leave before the last star fades or the moonspell will be broken and I may not come again.”</p><p>“And you want to come back to me?” Sousuke asked, smiling.</p><p>“Always,” whispered the noble, “It is the only time I feel alive.”</p><p>“But you will not stay.”</p><p>“I cannot stay. Our worlds would collide and we would be broken, so this is the best that we can hope for. For now…”</p><p>“For now,” Sousuke whispered back, capturing the sweet lips again.</p><p>They rose as far as their knees and shared a last few needy kisses, then Byakuya slipped out of the bed and leaned over his lover, bringing his lips to Aizen Sousuke’s one final time. When the kiss ended, his lover’s eyes drifted closed and sleep overtook him. Byakuya stood gazing down for a moment longer, then turned away and slipped back into his nightclothes. A hell butterfly floated by and a doorway opened, leading him out of the cool, desert night and back to his own garden. Silent steps carried him back through the garden and into his room. He slid back beneath the covers and closed his eyes, surrendering to sleep with a contented sigh.</p><p>When dawn returned, Kuchiki Byakuya rose and showered, then stepped naked into the dressing area. He paused for a moment, noticing the light bruise on his thigh and the red marking on his throat, and wondering where they came from. It always seemed to happen on the nights when there was a full moon. He shook his head in resignation, then pulled on his shihakushou…then the fingerless gloves. He wrapped the ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu around his pale throat, careful to cover the red marking. Then he set the kenseiken and haori in place and stepped out into the brightness of morning.</p><p>Somehow the flowers smelled more strongly and the colors looked brighter, but without considering why, he turned out of the garden and made his way out the front of Kuchiki Manor and onto the streets of the Seireitei. He walked with carefully measured steps, looking neither left nor right, oblivious to everything. He arrived early at the Squad Six Headquarters and took his place at his desk, smiling as Renji burst in just a moment later. He hid the smile and looked up dispassionately.</p><p>“Good morning, Abarai Renji,” he said in the usual tranquil tone.</p><p>“Good morning,Taichou!” Renji greeted him enthusiastically,</p><p>He moved to his desk and sat down, then stopped to study Byakuya for a moment.</p><p>“Taichou,” he said, furrowing his brow, “you look especially…content…today. You must have slept well.”</p><p>“Yes,” he said quietly, slowly blinking, “I slept well and had nothing but pleasant dreams.”</p><p>“That’s good,” Renji said, turning back to his work.</p><p>“Yes,” Byakuya whispered, “It is good.”</p><p>_          _          _</p><p>Aizen Sousuke smelled something delightfully sweet. He opened his eyes and found himself lying naked in his bed, his body covered in a blanket of cherry blossoms. He touched a soft petal with his fingertip.</p><p>“This is the best we can hope for…for now…my Byakuya.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Stolen Moment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Aizen Sousuke reflects on the reasons why the moonspell was cast.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aizen Sousuke stood alone at the top of Las Noches, steps from the bed he had shared with the moonstruck Kuchiki Byakuya. The cherry blossoms still lay scattered and he breathed in their sweet scent, mixed with the scents of their passionate coupling. The feel of petal soft skin still registered on his own, and he could still feel the movement of the sleek, powerful body writhing madly against his, straining for completion. His heart burned with desire. He wanted to look into the dark depths of those gray eyes, to see them in daylight, still hazed and wanting, filled with a lust only his body could sate…filled with want that only his soul could satisfy.</p><p>But there were reasons why things were as they were…why the moonspell had been necessary. It was something begun long ago, before the betrayal. So many years ago…when he had been taking a moonlight walk, when he had felt reiatsu rising all around him, the cry of a soul in mourning.</p><p>
  <em>He felt the strong reiatsu and he knew who it was and why. Faced with the loss of his wife, of course his heart was broken. It was only natural that he would need to mourn her. And being that he lived among the heartless nobles, the ones who looked down on everyone not of noble descent, the ones who held themselves above the laws that ruled all others, the ones favored of the soul king, Kuchiki Byakuya would not dare to share his pain with any of them. No, he would come somewhere out of the way like this to let the pain pour out of him…to cry the tears not allowed in the presence of anyone else, to honor the loss he was not allowed to acknowledge because by loving her at all, he had broken their rules.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Respecting his need for privacy, Aizen had flash stepped into the trees and prepared to walk away. But something made him stop and turn…the sound of a heartbroken sob. And, turning, he saw something he was sure no one had ever witnessed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kuchiki Byakuya’s already pale form had gone even more pale and he had abandoned the confines of his shihakushou in favor of a flowing white yukata…simple for one such as him. The long black strands of silken hair were loose and tormented by the breezes, whipping beautifully around an angelic face that somehow managed to maintain its stoic dignity while enduring a rain of tears down the porcelain cheeks. He had dropped to his knees at the edge of a cold blue moonlit lake and was staring down into his own tortured gray eyes, as if by looking into them, he could feel somehow less alone, less like the one weed in a bed of flowers, the one sour note in a chorus of sweet sounds.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The elder shinigami didn’t know quite what came over him, but he found himself suddenly kneeling alongside the other, staring, as he did, down into the pained depths of steely gray. Byakuya’s head turned and Aizen’s eyes lifted to meet his directly. Immediately, he recognized the struggle to regain control, to master his responses, to shut down everything not proper and refined. His heart ached at the sight and he reached out and placed a hand on the other’s face, only to find that his skin was, indeed, as soft as it looked. Aizen was enchanted.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“My apologies, Byakuya,” he said, looking into the half-controlled gaze, “but I could not help but see that you looked like someone who might want a bit of comfort.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The gray eyes stared for a moment longer, then were brought back into some kind of order.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have my apologies, Aizen Taichou. I should have sensed your presence and moved elsewhere to conduct my…grievances.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A slender, pale hand rose to gently remove his from the noble’s face. Aizen continued to stare for a moment longer, then he rose and drew Byakuya to his feet. The noble’s eyes were lowered, but Aizen could still feel the weight of them pressing in on him. All at once, he wanted desperately to see them again…for a longer duration. He held Byakuya’s cool hand in his and placed his other hand on his shoulder, looking back into his eyes with kindness.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Come…we’ll have a cup of green tea and you may collect yourself before you return to them.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He expected Byakuya to refuse, to turn away and disappear…and indeed, he did turn his eyes away, as if planning his escape. Then a long sigh ran through him and his eyes fell, and he turned to follow in silence as Aizen led the way. They walked slowly along the near-silent trail, back to the edge of the lake and into Aizen’s home.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He knew it was a simple place, not like the lovely expanse of the manor that the noble inhabited, but Byakuya seemed enchanted by the tiny flowers that dotted the grasses, by the presence of moss at the edges of the walkway, by the lack of any fences…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have a lovely home, Aizen Taichou,” he murmured softly as they entered the house.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He paused to admire the dark stained wood paneling inside, the warm earthen tones and the large bay window that looked out over the water. He stood in silence, letting his eyes play over its riled surface, trying to remember how it felt to be submerged in icy coolness, floating at the surface instead of sinking slowly into the depths. A warm hand delivered him a cup of tea and a hand on his arm guided him to a chair. He sat down, sipping at the tea, looking into Aizen Sousuke’s gentle brown eyes and wondering why he had accepted his invitation. He certainly wouldn’t have expected it of himself. But some part of him, he thought, needed to not feel so alone. Some part of him needed companionship, affection, love…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He blinked, surprised at himself and suddenly felt uncomfortable. He turned his eyes to contemplate his teacup and tried not to notice the dark, intelligent eyes that were looking at him with so much warmth.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He suddenly felt exhausted…overwhelmed by the long vigil of Hisana’s last days, of the official steps of resolution, of paying respect, of mourning in secret. The weight of it was simply too much. He brought a hand to his face to brush the feeling away, then unexpectedly, he felt the teacup being taken from his hand. He looked up and found that the gentle brown eyes were much closer…and that something odd was sweeping through them. He heard the cup being set down, then warm hands were holding his face and the brown eyes held his steadily as the distance was closed between them. He felt the encircling of arms, the brush of a cheek against his and the soft touch of lips and breath tickling his earlobe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You need to know that it is all right to feel, Kuchiki Byakuya. It is all right to follow your heart, and when it is broken, it is all right to mourn.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was silent for a moment, trembling softly at the closeness of the other, at the way it was making him feel. He didn’t dare…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I loved outside of the boundaries,” he said softly, “I knew the cost. To break with the rules and mores of one’s family is to plead for solitude. I burdened them with my disobedience when I married her. I will not suffer them to see me mourn the one they refused to acknowledge. It would do her no honor and would only allow them to think that it is just penance for my misdeed.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I understand,” Aizen said soothingly, “but you are not among them. You are here at the edge of a quiet wood, beside a clear lake, along forest paths. Certainly, this is a place you might allow yourself to feel something of your loss. That is why you came here, is it not?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Byakuya felt a shiver pass through him as the hand on his shoulder found his cheek again and brushed its fine curves with soft fingertips. He reached up to remove the hand from his face, but found that it suddenly captured his and he was only drawn closer to the other. His face was nearly resting on Aizen’s shoulder and he could feel the other’s breath against his skin.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He remembered the feel of gentle hands touching his face…of the scent of flowers…of the tickle of soft laughter. He pushed the thought away, but found that hands had taken hold of his face and the brown eyes were staring hard down into his.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t do that,” Aizen said softly, “Don’t push away the things that are beautiful. Don’t lose yourself in darkness and forget the one comfort you have! Remember what it feels like to touch her hand, to hold her in your arms, to kiss her lips.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Byakuya tore free of the warm hands, the gentle eyes, the too beautiful words. It was too much.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I cannot let myself feel those things,” he whispered, “because all I know now is pain when I feel them. Those things are gone and will never return. Never…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aizen contemplated the long swirls of black hair that spilled down over the whiteness of the pale cloth and wondered how it would look spread over the noble’s lovely, perfect skin. He stepped closer again, touching his shoulder, turning him…and somehow Kuchiki Byakuya was curling warmly into his arms. He contemplated for a moment the stunned gray eyes, then lowered his lips and captured Byakuya’s in a slow, lingering kiss. The noble froze for a moment, as though having lost his equilibrium and Aizen kissed him again, harder and with more passion.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Byakuya tried to pull away, but Aizen’s unyielding arms wrapped around him and held him firmly against a body that purred with warmth and comfort. And for all that he believed that he could do without comfort, Byakuya felt his resolve begin to crumble. So he let himself be held, telling himself it was just for this moment, just this one time. It was a quiet, removed place and there was no one there to see. There was no harm in allowing himself this one indulgence.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The warm lips moved against his…firmer and with more intensity and a different taste than the ones he was trying not to think about. He pressed his lips more firmly to them and settled more deeply into the comfort of those arms with a soft sigh. His eyes caught the brown eyes of the elder man and Byakuya felt his breath leave him. He had thought this to be simple comfort…the comfort of a warm embrace, of some gentle kisses and touches, but he saw now what was awakening in those eyes and felt a sharp stab of something that felt like fear.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He stepped back, but Aizen moved with him, pushing him back against the wall, meeting him open mouthed this time. Byakuya tried to object, but a hot tongue slipped between his parted lips and the words disappeared into an explosion of heat and touch. Aizen’s tongue slid slowly along his, tasting him, teasing him, bringing life back into him. Warm breath touched his face and tickled his throat as the devilish tongue worked its way deeper into his mouth, stroking and tasting until Byakuya could feel his knees weakening.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was falling, sliding down the dark, wooden paneling, sinking to the floor. But Aizen didn’t let him fall. Instead, he was lifted and carried a short distance, then brought down into an unbearably soft and comfortable bed. He looked up and saw Aizen remove his haori and glasses…slide the shihakushou off of the strong shoulders…bare himself to the waist. Byakuya blinked, unbelieving. Given a moment to think, he thought better of what he was doing and rolled to his feet, turning to flash step to the door. Aizen moved with him and the door closed. He was turned and pushed back into it and Aizen’s hands held his tightly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t run from this,” the gentle voice purred in his ear, “You need comfort. You need to know that you are valued, that you are respected…that you are loved.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The admission shocked both of them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“For how long have you…?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Long enough, it seems, to be ensnared,” Aizen whispered. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Byakuya stared, wide-eyed as Aizen took possession once again of his heavenly mouth and treated it to a thrill of deep, penetrating kisses that silenced the noble again, that made his legs weaken beneath him, that allowed Aizen to lift him again and bring him down onto the bed. Byakuya melted beneath the warmth of the words, the tenderness of the kisses and barely felt the hands that bared his flesh and began to explore him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He only knew that despite his loss, he still wanted to be loved, to be held, to be kissed and touched. He wanted to disappear into warm eyes and feel the heat of passion wrap around him and carry him away. But those things were gone…had died with her. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling this! Why was he letting this happen?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why did he want to feel those strong hands that were not like hers travel the curves of his body, touch him where no man’s hands had touched him before? Why did it feel so good to be held, to hear the soft words of comfort and affection delivered from those perfect lips? Then to have those lips join the warm hands that explored him, to have them touch his skin with such gentleness and care that it brought tears to his eyes…It wasn’t right that it should be this way! That he should want this so badly…that he should want so much for him to continue touching, kissing, exploring, calming, loving him like this.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Aizen Taichou…please…stop…” he gasped.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A lusting pink tongue sank into his navel and he felt his thoughts fly away. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think as that wicked tongue sank into that place again and the warm mouth closed around it, sucking slowly, sending him into a dizzy headlong spin.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The mouth was removed from his navel and Aizen’s lips returned to his ear.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You want me to stop, Byakuya? Are you sure about that?” he asked, capturing an earlobe and teasing it lovingly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aizen’s hands took hold of his face and he brought his body to rest warmly all along the length of the entrapped noble’s. Byakuya felt the older man’s hardness touch his and a dark blush burned on his skin. This was wrong! It was wrong and he knew it…so why did he want it so badly? Why now? Why this man?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s too soon,” he said, almost pleadingly, “It’s only been…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What is too soon, Byakuya?” Aizen whispered, “Haven’t you yet learned that it can all end in a moment? Do you want to waste precious time worrying about what is right and proper? What about what is real and right in front of you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He nuzzled the noble’s cheek and fell upon the pale throat, teasing it with kisses and soft nips as the younger man struggled for breath…and even more, some kind of meaningful response. But he couldn’t think of an argument…anything to combat the simple truth that there was only this moment and that nothing was guaranteed beyond that. Aizen saw his hesitation and overpowered his lips with a rain of heavy kisses. He captured the hands that rose to object and brought them down on either side of his head. Strong hips ground into the noble’s, moving against his heated flesh and creating dizzying, wonderful friction. He moaned at the feel of Aizen’s hakama that still separated them and felt his breath leave him again as that last impediment suddenly disappeared.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then hot flesh burned against his, sliding up and down his length in long, hungry thrusts. He felt hot fluid leaking from the tip and a warm hand touched him, capturing it, spreading it as the shocking sensation continued. That eager mouth took hold of his again, penetrating with an insatiable, demanding tongue, consuming the moans of pleasure and want that he could no longer contain. And still…even having so much, Byakuya wanted more…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Aizen Taichou…” he moaned.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The dark brown eyes found his and Aizen smiled warmly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I think you are not asking me to stop anymore,” the pleasant voice whispered, “Well then…if you are sure…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He slipped his fingers into the noble’s open mouth and Byakuya ran his mouth up and down the lengths of them, enjoying the hard penetration of his mouth. Then the fingers were withdrawn and he was turned onto his stomach…and the warm hands pulled his hair back and released it to drop and swirl onto his back. He felt the hungry eyes staring and felt a shiver pass through him. A hand stroked his hair and slid down his back, then Aizen placed a line of hot kisses all down the length of his spine. An arm wrapped around him and a hand curled around his blushing erection, while the first of Aizen’s wet fingers slid into his entrance. He couldn’t stifle a needy, wanton moan at the feeling and he heard Aizen’s soft chuckle at the sound. The finger moved in and out of him and the other hand continued to pleasure him…and Byakuya’s eyes closed as he let go and sank into the beautiful sensation. A second finger penetrated and he shifted uncomfortably, a shiver running down his spine. Soft lips found his lower back and a soft voice soothed him. He thrust into the hand that pleasured him and moaned Aizen’s name.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He felt the impact of his utterance in the tightening of the hand that stroked his hardened member and in the sudden thrust of a third finger into his entrance. He gasped at the intrusion and was treated to another soft rendering of kisses along his back and a soft, apologetic sigh.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The fingers were slowly removed and his thighs pushed open wide. There was pressure and he gasped softly at the burning pain as inch by heated inch, Aizen Sousuke’s length penetrated him in short, slow, deepening thrusts. He stopped for a moment and Byakuya felt fingers stroke his hair and the skin of his back as the soothing voice calmed him and took the tension out of his body. Aizen pushed forward again and again until fully buried within the noble. He gazed down at the fall of black hair against the lovely pale skin of his back and licked his lips. Dropping down, he rested the length of his body all along Byakuya’s back. The tightness around him sent a tremor through him and he longed to move. But he waited. He waited, pulling the hair away from the pale neck and kissing and nipping lightly until he felt the tension release, the tightness ease. A smile lit his face and he breathed his affection onto the fine, soft skin. He felt Byakuya shiver beneath him. Wrapping a hand around his slim waist and taking hold of his thick, wet arousal, Aizen began to move.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Byakuya couldn’t help but release a soft, wounded cry at the intrusion…at the invasion of his body that was different from anything he had known before. The body above his held him tightly in place, the firm hand stroking his cock relentlessly, the hot, throbbing member thrusting into him and pulling away, thrusting and pulling away. He felt a longing, a sudden feeling of want and lifted his hips, changing the angle of the deep penetration. His breath left him again in a sharp, cry of intense pleasure as Aizen’s hardened member found a center of pleasure and thrust into it repeatedly. His cries became screams of pleasure. Something inside told him to stop, that such behavior was unacceptable, but the hand on his cock and the intense thrusting had hold of him now, and he suddenly lost all ability to reason. Pleasure exploded all through his body and his cock pulsed again and again, releasing into the hand that was still holding it. He felt Aizen thrust into him one last time. Holding his hips tightly in place, gasping and moaning as hot seed erupted into Byakuya’s hungry depths, filling him, sating both, leaving them sighing and trembling against each other.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aizen rested warmly along his back, releasing gentle words of affection. The tender words, the hot seed, touches and kisses burned against Byakuya’s aching heart until he felt tears in his eyes. He turned his face into the pillow and heard words he couldn’t understand. Then he was being moved, turned, brought close to another, held tightly and soothed with light, gentle kisses and a hand that stroked his hair. He closed his eyes and sank into the warmth, weary of feeling, wanting silence and peace. He drifted off in Aizen Sousuke’s arms and slept blissfully until near dawn.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aizen woke to find himself alone in his bed…a few strands of black hair still trapped in his fingers. He sighed softly and shook his head, feeling sad that the noble could not allow himself any weakness, any moment of peace and contentment without paying for it after. He knew Byakuya was somewhere quiet, furiously hating himself for granting himself a short moment of happiness, warmth and contentment during a time of loss. He knew not to expect Byakuya to return, but he didn’t expect the coldness, the icy stares, the lack of acknowledgement he experienced every time he saw the noble after that.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Slowly, the warmth and sympathy, the kindness and gentleness he had felt for Byakuya faded, and the noble became just another one of them, the ones who held themselves above the rest, were better than everyone else for no better reason than a family name. So when he planned his revenge against the king who had forgotten his people, against the nobles who held themselves above the rest, he chose the one person among the nobles who he felt had hurt him the most, and he used the one he knew he secretly cared for as a piece of his plan.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It wasn’t until that last day, the day of his departure for Las Noches, that he saw it again, the desperate, reckless willingness to break the rules, a moment of mad weakness that threatened his very life, that snap decision to abandon rules and regulations and to follow his heart, throwing himself heedlessly between his dead wife’s sister and the death that approached her. Then Gin’s blade tore through that noble heart and Aizen watched in stunned surprise as the red fluid poured out onto the ground, as knees once weakened with love, gave way beneath him and the noble dropped to the ground. It was inexplicable. He had somehow been mistaken. Their coupling had been no error. A heart did beat beneath the surface of that proud, noble flesh. He was right about what he had seen, only now, Byakuya’s heart was torn, bleeding, broken. The noble was suffering, dying before his eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As the golden light lifted him away, he studied the still form held tightly in Kuchiki Rukia’s arms and he promised himself that he would make things right between them again. </em>
</p><p>Aizen Sousuke sighed and rested his face against the glass wall, looking out over the spinning sands. Even the moonspell hadn’t fixed things. Byakuya only listened to his heart while in its thrall. When light returned, so did the coldness, the loneliness, the heartbrokenness. If only there was a way to make him listen to his heart by light of day, to help him find again the love they shared that first time, the one repeated under the light of each full moon.</p><p>He would do it. He would find a way. He would do it tonight, travel to the Seireitei, take the noble from his bed and bring him here. He would lock him within the dome and make him listen to reason. It was desperate and unbecoming of the leader of the hollows. But it was what was in Aizen Sousuke’s heart, and he was going to listen! A slow smile spread across his face as he opened the door and descended the stairs. He would go there tonight and shatter the bonds that held his lover hostage.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Abduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Aizen steals into Kuchiki Manor and abducts Byakuya.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Byakuya bid Renji the usual farewell and turned to walk back along the streets of the Seireitei toward Kuchiki Manor. It being a day of some importance, his step was somewhat faster and he walked with more purpose. He passed through the gates and immediately sensed a familiar presence. There was a whisper of breeze and a light flash step, then a young man with untamed waves of black hair and lovely sapphire eyes appeared in front of him and bowed respectfully.</p><p>“Welcome home, Byakuya-sama.”</p><p>“Tetsuya,” the noble greeted his cousin, “Is there anything to report?”</p><p>“Nothing of note,” Tetsuya assured him, “I’ve informed the house guards to keep their distance to give you your privacy.”</p><p>“Ah, arigatou, Tetsuya. Please watch over the household.”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>Tetsuya disappeared in another swift step, and Byakuya sighed, looking in the direction his cousin had gone.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe I should have asked you to come with me…but no, this is something I must do alone.</em>
</p><p>He turned down the walkway toward his room. Unlike most nights, he did not pause at the doorway to remove his shoes. That would come later.</p><p>He walked to the dressing area and shed the trappings of his power and status, setting aside everything but the man underneath, the one unseen by anyone since Hisana. Well…except for that one time…</p><p>He brushed off the thought with a touch of irritation. No one, he thought, wants to be plagued with thoughts of their past mistakes, especially not on such an evening as this…one under such a lovely moon and beneath a blanket of stars, the kind of night that would have had them leaving the confines of house and even garden to move out along the forest trail, past the moonlit waterfall and into the misted field beyond. They would lie in the long grasses and breathe the fresh, cool air, air that smelled like water and crushed grass and flowers.</p><p>He slipped into a flowing white yukata that had been the one she favored seeing him in, that he only wore on this same night every year. She’d loved the way the breezes would lift and move its light folds, how it contrasted with his hair. She said that it made him look like an angel. He had smiled tolerantly at the suggestion, but he knew even then that there was nothing divine about him…and he was wholly undeserving of someone with such a pure heart. He still wondered at her having been sent to Inuzuri. Some things simply made no sense at all to him. Like how one so unlike the nobles on the inside could grow up to lead the very ones who would disown him if they ever learned who he really was. Sometimes it showed itself and immediately they chided him for his defiance…for choosing a bride who was not of noble lineage, for bringing another peasant into the house and family in a second major fracturing of the rules, and for his occasional tendency to make decisions from the heart, rather than based on duty.</p><p>He brushed the thoughts away as he freed himself from all of the reminders…the stiff confines of the kenseiken, the ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu that sometimes felt more like a tightening noose, the soft, but weighty haori and even the simple shihakushou. The softer fabric of the light yukata allowed him deeper breaths and more latitude for movement. As it settled around him, his heart grew lighter and the weight on his heart eased.</p><p>It was with that lighter heart that he left the house and walked through the gardens, enjoying the lovely scents of flowers and sakura. He passed out of the back gate and turned away from the forest path, toward the darker environs of the family cemetery. He remembered to capture several handfuls of flower petals and blossoms and to slip them into the pockets for use later. Even as the pathway around him grew darker, he walked with a light, confident step, knowing exactly how to place his feet to avoid any impediment. The breeze was colder here, but he was beyond concern, his mind locked on that place just a short distance ahead. So driven, he didn’t notice the soft motion of the brush behind him or the eyes that followed him as he reached Hisana’s grave and dropped calmly to his knees in the dewy grass.</p><p>He pulled the petals and blossoms free and released them into the air to float down and settle onto the grave. His eyes followed them, softening with memory as they fell and took their places on the grass in front of him. He looked down at them, remembering the softness of her touch, the sweetness of her kiss, the light sound of her voice and the tinkle of her laughter. And unlike those first difficult years, his lips curled into a smile at the memory. It was, after all of these years, getting easier. He was moving forward. Telling Rukia the truth had been like opening the wound, releasing everything dark and foul and allowing healing to begin. And now he was lighter of heart and clearer of mind, but he knew that if Hisana could speak to him that she would tell him the same thing she did that last day. His lips moved, repeating her words, reminding himself of another promise he had made…one he had yet to keep.</p><p>“I remember what you said, all of those years ago. I haven’t forgotten those words or my promise. It has taken many years to feel calm inside again, to be able to look at plum blossoms, to gaze up at the moon, to wear this yukata, and to do these things without feeling the weight of sadness. You made me promise to find happiness and contentment again and I have. I know that I gave my word that I would open my heart to love again, but the time has never been right and there is no one, in any case, who my heart feels inclined to love. I know you are gone and that I cannot withhold my heart from another if the feeling takes me, but as of yet, the time has not come, that other person has not appeared. So that last promise must wait. And while it does, I will continue to walk the forest path and enjoy the cool breezes. I will smell the scents of water, flowers and crushed grass and feel your presence beside me. As I wait for what comes, I won’t forget to honor the one who set me on the path. And when that person finds me, I will honor you by taking the hand that reaches for mine.”</p><p>The breeze moved his hair and set the flowing fabric around him in motion. And to the eyes that watched, he did look like an angel…and the words that fell from his lips were like sweet angelsong. He knew now that the time was right, that what he was about to do was the right thing. He didn’t expect that Byakuya would agree, or that he would fall into an enemy’s arms readily. He was in for a fight, an epic battle of wills. Aizen was sure he was about to reacquaint himself with his lover’s nasty side, the stuck up, better than you, noble side that only existed to protect the very fragile heart beneath. He knew, however to approach the challenge carefully. It would do him no good to shatter his lover’s defenses if it also meant breaking the heart beneath it. No, Byakuya’s heart was already damaged…and still in stages of healing. It must be treated carefully to avoid being damaged even more. But if there was one thing Aizen Sousuke loved, it was a challenge.</p><p>He continued to follow Byakuya as the noble rose from his place beside Hisana’s grave, the white fabric wet and slightly stained at the knees. He passed the gate and continued toward the waterfall, a lovely, glowing spectral figure, bathed in moonlight and touched by the shine of stars, the curl of soft breezes and the softly falling spring blossoms all around. He reached the ledge overlooking the waterfall and flash stepped down, letting his footfalls rile the surface of the lake beneath, then sweeping into the long wet grasses. He dropped down into them and Aizen Sousuke could have laughed aloud at the sight of him turning onto his stomach, threading his fingers through the grasses, picking the tiny flowers hidden there, then lifting them to breathe in their sweet scent before releasing them into the air. He watched them catch the moonlight for a moment before being swept onto the surface of the lake to spin and float as Byakuya rolled onto his back to contemplate the moon and stars. It was a sight so enchanting that Aizen Sousuke feared he would lose control, tumble down off of the ledge and give himself away. He swallowed hard, hanging onto his control by a thread as Byakuya smiled into the sky, fabric and skin lit as if from within, his fingertips curling around long blades of grass. He remained still and quiet, staring up into the sky until a shiver of cold finally reached through the damp, stained fabric and sank beneath his skin.</p><p>Byakuya rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself to his knees, taking a moment to shake out his hair and brush the bits of grass and flowers from his clothes. He stood and looked at the moon and stars reflected in the lake and flash stepped back up the face of the small cliff. He walked slowly back down the trail, his clothing hanging limply and spotted with soil and markings from the grass. His hair was tumbled and slightly wild, still containing a few stubborn petals. But none of that bothered him. Hot water would remove the soil from his body and his staff was excellent at removing the stains from the yukata once each year and restoring it to its pristine state.</p><p>He passed through the gate and into his room, leaving the garden doors open as he moved into the dressing area and slipped out of the yukata. He wrapped a towel around his hips and stepped back across the room to the shower, unaware that as soon as the door to the bathroom closed, a shadowy form slipped into his room. The invader’s zanpakutou concealed him as he breathed in the sweet scents that still rose up from the white yukata and then slipped back behind the row of neatly ordered clothes. When the bathroom door opened and Byakuya stepped back into the dressing area, he paused for a moment, as though sensing something odd in the air, then he shook the water out of his hair and turned to contemplate which yukata to wear. As he paused to survey them, the dark red one slipped free of its hanger and dropped to the floor at his feet with a soft swish. His head tilted slightly, he bent to retrieve it, then as an afterthought, he slipped it around his slender form and tied it in place, letting an eye drift to the mirror to make certain everything was back in order. His eyes blinked sleepily and, seeing nothing was amiss, he turned out of the dressing area and slipped into bed, turning to face the open garden doors. He let the moonlight fill his eyes to make the lids grow heavy, then blinked slowly once, twice and a third time before letting them remain closed. A soft sigh escaped him as sleep took over.</p><p>When the rise and fall of his breathing had slowed and grown steady and even, Aizen Sousuke emerged and moved silently across the room to the bed. He paused for a long moment, letting his eyes rest on the peacefully sleeping form, letting them run down the curves of shoulder, chest, waist, hip and thigh, all draped in fine satin and shining under the moon. He hated to disturb the quiet, to steal into this peaceful place and break the silence. He wondered what they would do when they found he was missing…when he did not appear in the garden the next morning for tea and breakfast before going off to work.</p><p>
  <em>Usually nothing gets past Kuchiki Tetsuya. For a gentle soul, he is quite formidable. Still, he has been hypnotized by my Kyouka Suigetsu, so there is nothing he, or anyone else can do.</em>
</p><p>Guilt touched him for a moment, but Aizen Sousuke was never one to let guilt rule him, so he shouldered it and let it go, then turned and extended his hands, letting his power flow out into the resting shinigami to deepen his sleep, to keep him submerged while he was lifted into his lover’s arms, carried out into the garden, past Tetsuya’s carefully watching eyes and taken through the garganta.</p><p>He let himself breathe again when they touched down in the soft, cold sand. He gently kissed the noble’s brow and promised to let him wake soon, then turned into the courtyard, walking calmly past the staring guards, into the entry, up the large staircase and down the hallway to his guarded door. The guards bowed their heads and stepped back, opening his door and allowing him to pass into the room. He closed the door behind him and carefully laced his fingers into those of a soft, pale hand.</p><p>Byakuya stirred softly, but was sent back to sleep with a small flare of power. Aizen waited quietly with Byakuya still sleeping in his arms as the doorway opened and the stairway appeared. He carried his lover up the stairs and laid him down in the soft, comfortable bed, assuring with a final spell that he would sleep soundly until the next day.</p><p>Aizen could not help but slip into bed next to him, to curl his body warmly around that other, the one he so loved, but whom he was only allowed to hold under the spell of the full moon…well, until tonight anyway. There was no moonspell now, only the spell placed around him to make him remain asleep so that he would not suddenly wake and kill the traitor who had taken him. Aizen used the time to make peace with what he was about to do, with how long he might have to wait, with how hard he would have to battle, to help Byakuya hear the sound of his own heart.</p><p>He listened to the sound of it beating beneath the powerful, slender breast and threaded his fingers through the lovely strands of raven black hair. He let his fingers brush against the peaceful face, unhappy that it must endure such frustration, all for the purpose of seeing through the illusions to what was real.</p><p>To ease his guilt, he whispered soft words of affection to his lover as he slept and placed tender kisses on forehead, brow, cheeks and lips. He remained curled around Byakuya’s softness and warmth until the stars began to dim and light began to return to the sky. Slowly, he pulled free and turned back, waves of guilt taking him as he sealed away the noble’s power, as he crossed the room and passed out of it, locking Byakuya inside. He sighed softly and leaned against the place where the wall had just closed, separating them and starting the necessary unpleasantness.</p><p> </p><p>XXXXXXXXXX</p><p> </p><p>Byakuya’s eyes opened, but he was certain that he must somehow still be asleep. He knew he had fallen asleep in his own bed…in Kuchiki Manor…in the Seireitei. But as he blinked and stared and tried to wake himself, he slowly realized that it wasn’t a dream. He wasn’t in his room, at Kuchiki Manor, about to start another normal day. Through some inexplicable turn of events, he had been taken as he slept, spirited out of his home, past Tetsuya’s ever watching eyes, and away, through the garganta…into the deadness of Hueco Mundo, and into the very heart of his enemy’s demesnes.</p><p>He sat up slowly, his head still spinning with the force of the spell that had made him remain asleep. He sensed immediately the eyes that watched him. It was to be expected, of course. He was a powerful enemy, dangerous even with his power sealed away. Aizen Sousuke had to be aware of this. He would wait to approach the noble once he felt assured that Byakuya understood his situation.</p><p>And the situation was all too clear.</p><p>It made sense for Aizen to take him, to steal his strength from the Gotei 13…to lock his power away inside him and to lock his body away in a place no one could hope to reach. Byakuya’s breath caught in his chest and he struggled to push down the feeling of despair that was rising up inside. If he had been alone before, if he had been longing for love and companionship, if his world had been missing something that he had only begun to have hope he would ever find, his hopes had just been dashed…and his fate sealed, his world made more lonely…if that was possible. Now, instead of being surrounded by his nicely ordered world, he was surrounded by dead things and sand…traitors and tormentors. He allowed himself a scant moment of sorrow, a shiver of fear, then his back straightened and he slipped out of bed, slowly making his way around the room and acquainting himself with every inch.</p><p>The room itself was large and comfortably airy, with a huge glass dome that rose over it, providing sweeping views of the desert around the fortress. From here he could see everything, from the courtyard entrance all of the way to the shinigami base far in the distance. As the sun rose over the dome, the glass darkened and cool air was sent through vents into the room. All around its edges were comfortable places to sit and look out at the desert…or, at night, up into the stars. Despite being caged and alone, he imagined that the stars must be enchanting, viewed from this place. The bed he had awakened in and every other bit of furniture was soft and deeply comfortable. There was an armoire on one side of the room that contained clothing made to his size. And as he moved from piece to piece, he ran his fingers over the fine cloth and thought that they must have been tailored to his size by someone who knew his craft. All in all, Byakuya could not imagine a nicer room, a more comfortable place, or a more confusing situation.</p><p>He was Aizen’s prisoner…wasn’t he?</p><p>Or was this something else? But that had been so many years ago, before the betrayal. This could not be about that…Aizen Sousuke had shown beyond doubt that those feelings were left behind when he used Rukia in his plans. Byakuya had hurt him and he returned the hurt in kind. He still had the faint, light scar on one pale breast to prove it.</p><p>But try as he might, search as he might, wonder as he might, in the end, Kuchiki Byakuya could not figure out why this had been done. His mind whirling with questions, he sat cross-legged on the bed and let his face fall into his hands. So wrapped up in his confusion as he was, he didn’t hear the door slide silently open then closed or see the one who entered the room and moved to his side. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a warm hand came to rest on his shoulder and he heard someone say his name.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Conditions of Release</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Aizen offers to allow Byakuya to go if he performs a certain task first.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Given the facts of his situation, Aizen Sousuke was amazed at the poise Byakuya managed to cling to even as he jumped back from the hand that touched his shoulder and came to his feet on the other side of the bed, glaring at the one who had taken him from the safety of his own room and brought him to Hueco Mundo.</p><p>“Byakuya,” he said quietly.</p><p>The noble looked back at his with fury in his eyes. His body shook softly with something that more resembled rage than fear.</p><p>“Why have you done this? How?” Byakuya whispered.</p><p>“What do your instincts tell you?” Aizen asked, not meaning to play games, but rather realizing that Byakuya wasn’t likely to believe a thing he said.</p><p>He would have to draw his own conclusions.</p><p>Byakuya stared warily into the brown eyes of his captor and Aizen could see him struggling with the realities of his position.</p><p>“My instincts tell me…that you have multiple agendas, and that nothing you say or do can be trusted.”</p><p>“Can you trust your own eyes? Can you trust what you see around you?” Aizen asked, taking a step forward.</p><p>Byakuya stepped back.</p><p>“I cannot trust anything I perceive,” he whispered, “because your weapon makes it possible for you to make me see, sense…anything you want me to. Did you think that I would forget that?” Byakuya asked, frowning.</p><p>“No,” said Aizen softly, “I did not think you would forget. But this could be a problem. You see, if you trust nothing…how will you draw conclusions? If you do not believe,” he said stepping around the bed and closing in on the noble, “what you senses tell you, then how will you decide what to do?”</p><p>“What game are you playing with my mind? Are you taking your revenge?” Byakuya asked, stepping back and stopping against a glass wall.</p><p>“Do you think I want revenge? What terrible thing have you done lately that would make me want revenge? I will admit that my use of Rukia in my plans was a form of revenge, but the summations of you that led me to make that decision were faulty. In short, I misunderstood you. I took as a personal rejection something that might not have been meant that way. Isn’t it true, that you didn’t actually blame me for taking advantage of you that night? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that you were angry at yourself for giving in to me?”</p><p>“You know less than nothing about what I think…what I feel. If you knew either of these things, you wouldn’t have brought me here…”</p><p>“Why do you think I brought you here, Byakuya?” Aizen asked, meeting his eyes steadily.</p><p>“How am I supposed to know that?” Byakuya hissed, “How would anyone know what runs through your crazed mind? You are a traitor…a criminal…a murderer.”</p><p>“Is it murder to throw down an oppressor, to seek justice beyond what that unjust system offers, to fight for equal treatment under the law?”</p><p>“There are better ways to effect change than by deceiving and murdering people.”</p><p>“Societal change is not often brought about peacefully, but let us leave that argument for another time. I asked you why you think I brought you here. I want you to answer me.”</p><p>Byakuya stared at him in silence.</p><p>“Tell me what you feel,” Aizen whispered, reaching out and touching his face.</p><p>Byakuya froze.</p><p>“What do you feel when I touch you?”</p><p>The gray eyes blinked defensively and his hands moved to push the other’s away. Aizen grabbed his hands, pushed him back against the glass wall and engaged his mouth in a forceful kiss. Byakuya tore away from him, nearly falling as he backed away, eyes flaring.</p><p>“Is that why you brought me here, to fulfill some sick fantasy of yours? Then why bother with my mind at all? Can’t you simply overpower it? Break it? Force me to bend to your will and do whatever you want me to? Is that what you are going to do?”</p><p>Aizen sighed, unhappy with the direction their conversation was taking.</p><p>“I admit I could have done that…if that was my intent. The fact that I have not done so, that I have brought you here to this room and have made you comfortable…and have tried to make you understand. That should tell you something. Perhaps you need time to consider things more. I will leave you to your thoughts, for now…but I will be back.”</p><p>To Byakuya, it looked as though Aizen simply disappeared, though he suspected that it was an illusion to cover his means of leaving the room so that Byakuya could not attempt escape.</p><p>He raised a hand to his lips, still feeling the burn of those other lips on his. It had a familiar feel to it…something barely remembered, something that resonated in a place dangerously close to his heart. His hand dropped away from his lips and he turned and placed it instead on the glass. Looking over the warming sand, he thought of how he would have awakened as always, slipped into a comfortable yukata and joined Rukia and Tetsuya in the garden for breakfast and tea. He would have returned to his room to dress in his shihakushou, gloves, scarf, haori and kenseiken. After leaving the house, he would have walked down the morning shaded streets and slipped into the office, sitting and settling down to work just before the door opened and Renji burst in. He would have hidden his smile at the sound of Renji’s greeting and returned it in a calm, tranquil voice.</p><p>But he didn’t feel calm and tranquil. There was nothing orderly about his world now. He felt his breath shorten and hot tears burned in his eyes. They weren’t brought on by despair, but an intense, sweeping anger. With his power sealed away, he couldn’t release the emotion through his spirit centers, couldn’t feel the hard rise of power, the rumble of the earth around him. Everything was locked away inside, just as he was locked away. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t be tortured or that he was made comfortable or that, despite not being allowed to leave, he was being treated as a guest. All he knew was that he was alone and locked away and it quickly swept his controls aside and brought those tears of anger.</p><p>He released it in the only way left to him then, taking hold of anything not fastened down and throwing it hard against the thick glass, screaming his defiance. And when nothing he could lift remained unbroken, he took the shattered pieces and threw them against the glass again until there was nothing left to break, until everything movable was broken into pieces smaller than his shattered heart.</p><p>A tear rolled onto his cheek and he lifted a hand to brush it away. It was then that he saw the blood on his hands. He hadn’t even noticed, he had been so enraged. He stared in fascination, stunned by the sight of that redness and the coppery scent that touched his senses. He allowed himself a single sob of frustration, then stood and walked calmly into the washroom. He cleaned and bound his wounds, then slowly walked the edges of his prison, looking down and learning the patterns of the sand that swirled on the breezes, of the clouds that moved slowly across the sky…anything and everything that would help him cope until he could free himself.</p><p>He waited for Aizen Sousuke to return, but no one came to him. Just as hunger began to reach him, a tray of food appeared on the table near his bed. The scent of it was enticing and he knew that if he tasted it, the taste would be perfect. But he couldn’t make himself cross the room, couldn’t force himself to try it. It felt too much like giving in, and he had far too much pride for that. He left it where it was, moving away to watch the light fade away and the stars come out.</p><p>The way they appeared over the dome and lit everything beneath them was enchanting, but he missed the feel of the dirt path under his feet, the smell of water, crushed grass and flowers. The air was dry and fresh, but had nothing to give it life. It had to be cooled and circulated, forced to move. There was nothing natural about it.</p><p>He stared up at the moon, trying to draw its light into his body, but he felt dark inside, as though even that light could not reach him. He rested on his back on the bed, watching the stars move across the sky, whispering the stories he remembered about the constellations, remembering them only to keep his mind occupied and removed from the obvious. The silence deepened around him and became overbearing. He could only hear the soft swish of air through the vents, his breathing and the soft beating of his heart. And what his heart told them with each soft, aching pulse, was that he was lost, alone and unlikely to see his home again…not for a long time…maybe not ever. He swallowed hard and let the soft sounds around him carry him off to sleep.</p><p>Some time later, he realized four things in quick succession. First, he realized that he was frozen in place, unable to move. Second, the damage to the room had somehow been undone. Third, the painful wounds on his hands had been carefully healed…And finally, he was no longer alone. Aizen Sousuke laid beside him on the bed, the warmth of his body both comforting and disturbing at once.</p><p>“I am sorry I have to restrain you,” Aizen Sousuke said quietly, “It is necessary for now, because I know you are furious with me for bringing you here like this. I understand that anger, but know that this was necessary. Things were good as they were, but we were living a lie, a fantasy. I brought you here to help you see the truth, so that our meetings won’t be so infrequent…and I won’t be the only one who remembers.”</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Byakuya whispered, “You act as though I’ve been here before.”</p><p>“You have,” Aizen whispered back, “Every time the moon is full, you leave the Seireitei and you come to me. We come to this room and make love under the stars…and when we are sated, I ask you if you will stay and you tell me that you can’t, that you must return before morning or the spell that brings you here will be broken.”</p><p>He wanted to laugh…to immediately reject it as nonsense, but he remembered the light bruises, the red marking on his throat. And it always happened on the nights when the moon was full. But it couldn’t be…It couldn’t…</p><p>“You won’t remember, but after I left the Seireitei for Las Noches, I came to you. I froze you in place as you are frozen now and I apologized for having misunderstood you, for being angry at your rejection of me. I did take advantage of you. It was right that you were angry.”</p><p>“You offered comfort and I accepted. I wasn’t forced into anything…and I wasn’t coerced. I wanted to be with you, because I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to be held, to be touched, to be loved. And your eyes were full of compassion…your hands were gentle. Your words were soothing. If I was angry at anyone for what happened, I was angry with myself. But I took my anger out on you and you thought it meant that I blamed you. That’s why when you betrayed the Gotei 13, you used her. You used her to hurt me, because I hurt you. I remember…but what has any of that to do with this?”</p><p>“Because I made you a promise that night. That was the night that I told you that for every moment of darkness I caused you, I would repay you with a moment of starlight. I said that for every tear of sadness, shed or not, I would bring you tears of joy. And for every bit of pain, I would repay you with ecstasy. That was the night I cast the moonspell.”</p><p>“You cast a spell,” Byakuya said, his voice low and angry, “to force me to come to you? To force me into bed with you? And you called it compensation?”</p><p>“No,” Aizen said, turning to gaze down into the dark, angry eyes, “all the moonspell did was to cause you to hear your own heart…what it said to you, what it wanted and what would heal it. When you came to me the first time, we did not make love. We laid next to each other all of that first night, staring up at the stars and sharing what we knew about them. The next time you came to me, we shared stories of our pasts. It is how you came to understand the reasons I threw off the yoke of the Gotei 13, threw down and killed the oppressors who dealt injustice and came here to plan to end their chokehold on our worlds. Byakuya, you were the one who told me the about the lies surrounding the king! And although you could not condone my actions, you understood my reasons…and because the moonspell was meant to right a personal wrong, you chose to continue to come. Eventually, your heart led you to make love with me. I never asked you to do that. I let you lead every time. I did nothing to coerce you and nothing to stop you from following your heart. I meant to do right by you by giving you what your heart desired…and what you most desired was companionship and love.”</p><p>“Then why,” asked Byakuya icily, “do I feel nothing for you now? Why do I despise you and want to kill you?”</p><p>Aizen threaded his fingers through Byakuya’s hair and kissed his forehead.</p><p>“You cannot,” he replied softly, “hear the call of your own heart. It is there, but you will not listen. You have been taught to ignore it…to separate yourself from it. Only the moonspell released you from that. I don’t know how to help you to hear it.”</p><p>“Then,” Byakuya said quietly, “does that mean that I will remain your prisoner until I can hear it? And how will I know when I do?”</p><p>“I propose this,” Aizen said, stroking his hair, “You think of three people who you think should somehow be able to help you hear your heart. Tell me one name each night for the next three nights and I will use my zanpakutou to bring their images to you. You may imagine any setting and interact with each however you wish. And we shall see if this will loose your heart so that you can hear it.”</p><p>“And if it does not?” Byakuya asked quietly.</p><p>“Then I will take you home.”</p><p>“And how do I know that your images will not lead me in false directions?” Byakuya asked skeptically.</p><p>Aizen sighed.</p><p>“My zanpakutou causes you to perceive each person as he or she truly is or was. It is meant to be indistinguishable from the actual person. And I will give you the ability to give the command to my zanpakutou, so that you know exactly who will be represented. Will you agree to this?”</p><p>“If I do this and I am convinced that this is where my heart is, must I leave everything else behind?”</p><p>Aizen shook his head.</p><p>“I seek only to be with you more often…by night is fine, just more often…and I want you to remember it. The strain of waking up alone and knowing that you do not share the beautiful memories of our time together has become more lonely than if you had not come. So…you are free to do what you need to do to be reassured.”</p><p>“Will you release the restraints now?”</p><p>“Will you give your word that you will not attack me?”</p><p>Byakuya gazed up into the dark brown eyes.</p><p>“I will not attack you. You have my word.”</p><p>The restraints released and Byakuya sat up, stretching and standing. He walked to the glass wall and gazed out over the long expanse of sand to where the lights from the shinigami base shined. He wondered who he should choose.</p><p>“I will need some time to consider who I shall call to me,” he said softly.</p><p>Aizen nodded.</p><p>“Then I shall leave you to your thoughts. Are you hungry? Shall I have food brought to you?”</p><p>“Just some tea, if you will,” he answered, still looking in the direction of the base, “It helps me to fall asleep. I don’t sleep well in unfamiliar places.”</p><p>“Then tonight you shall not. If you wish, I will make this place appear to you as your own home…just to aid you in sleeping. Do you wish for me to do this?”</p><p>“No, Sousuke. I prefer to make my peace with the way things are.”</p><p>“Very well. If you need anything during the night, you need only say my name and I will come to you.”</p><p>Byakuya felt a touch on his shoulder and turned to look into the deep brown eyes. A warm palm rose to cup his cheek and Aizen yielded him a sad smile.</p><p>“I am sorry for this,” he said softly, “Perhaps I should have left things as they were.”</p><p>“No,” Byakuya replied, not breaking eye contact, “It is better that I know the truth.”</p><p>He did not resist the lips that moved to gently claim his.</p><p>“And you shall. Good night, Byakuya.”</p><p>He waited until the other was gone from the room.</p><p>“Good night, Sousuke,” he whispered.</p>
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